How to shine rubber tires?

[Cheng Fei]

Sorry if this topic is repeated. I couldn't find something similar.

Does anyone have experience in shining Lego rubber tires?

Advises and help needed here. Thanks.

Edited February 6, 2013 by Cheng Fei

[davidmull]

Try a silicone spray u use on car tires and dashes. Something like ,back to black, etc

[Cheng Fei]

@davidmull Would there be any side effect of damaging the rubber in the long run?

Thanks in advance.

Edited February 6, 2013 by Cheng Fei

[DLuders]

@ Cheng Fei: Armor All protectant may be avaiable in Malaysia; it is designed to make real rubber tires look nice and new. Look for it (or something similar to it) in your local Auto Parts store:

[jonwil]

The unknown question is whether the stuff LEGO tyres are made of is the same thing as real tyres are made of and whether stuff that works on real tyres will work on LEGO tyres. I would recommend anyone trying this to try it on cheap easily replaced tyres first before you risk it on your expensive tyres :)

[DLuders]

Armor All is safe for use on Lego rubber tires -- I've used it and it did not deteriorate the rubber at all. However, Armor All makes the tires really SLIPPERY. I find that Lego tires are "slippery enough"; recall how new tires on the 9398 4x4 Crawler struggled to clear obstacles. If anything, I want most of my Lego tires to be LESS SLIPPERY and rougher so that they GRIP better.

[Cheng Fei]

@Dluders David, thank you for your thoughtful touch for finding solutions right to the place I live in. I think I'd give it a try first before applying to the other valuable tires.

I'd only shine the sidewalls of the tires. Not the tread surface. So I think this would eliminate the slippery issue.

[davidmull]

@davidmull Would there be any side effect of damaging the rubber in the long run?

Thanks in advance.

No side effects, anything with silicone is fine on any rubber, that product dluder posted is very good also.

[DarkShadow73]

And to think I've been shining my various car's tires and interior w/ Armor-All for going on 24 yrs...well maybe except for wintertime in the frozen north...

I've often thought of trying to shine up the sidewalls (not the treads like DLuders said), since some of the tires in sets older than about 2008 I believe had tires that looked like crap, sort of a chalky look to them (I know there was a topic devoted to the possible change in rubber substance since then), and on my Supercars and Racers I like that shined up look.

Construction and logging, which I'm mainly into, should have that 'dirty' look about the tires so I wouldn't mess with the sidewall or tread look, in fact I 'hacked' a couple bucketfuls of real sand from a construction site a couple summers ago and it gives construction vehicle's tires that perfect look. On occasion I use a spray bottle w/ water to lightly wet the sand on my road builds, then run the trucks through it to give them an authentic look. Gives the treads a muddy look that bleeds lightly onto the sidewalls. Perfect look. Oh btw, don't try this method with excavators like the 8043, 8294 or 42006, biggest mistake I ever made, the tracks tend to spit it up into the gears some if you're not real slow, but that's common sense, and I didn't use common sense the day I did that last year with one of my 8043's. Had to take bottom end apart and carefully spray off the gears, now I just set the tracks in the wet sand and then re-hook them back onto my excavators.

Edited February 6, 2013 by TechnicFreak

[Rosemarie]

1. Clean the tires OR wheels when you wash your vehicle .

2. Choose the best cleaner that is best for your car tires .

3. Always Clean your car tires after some time .

4. Choose your tire dressing carefully.